The nationwide expansion of Harmony Korine‘s Spring Breakers meant that I had the opportunity to catch the film last night at my local theater. We’ll talk a more specifically about our coverage of the film after the jump. For now, I’d like to make a futile attempt at encapsulating my feelings on the pic in the next few sentences. There’s a lot to like about Breakers whether it be the performances (James Franco‘s especially), the music, the slick editing and use of foreshadowing, etc. Nevertheless, for me this isn’t a movie that I “liked” as much as it’s one I respect. It’s beautiful, surreal, challenging, abhorrent, and vapid all at the same time. In other words, it’s art.

I could go on for days about the pic but that’s not why we’re here. In this week’s Top 5 we’ll take a look at our Breakers coverage, some Transformers 4 plot details, Olympus Has Fallen interviews with Gerard Butler and Antoine Fuqua just to name a few, a new trailer and poster for Star Trek Into Darkness, and The Croods interviews with Nicolas Cage and more. As is standard, a brief recap and link to each awaits after the jump.

“It’s Die Hard in the White House” is the high-concept pitch for Olympus Has Fallen.  It’s a good pitch, but it’s only a pitch.  The movie doesn’t understand what makes Die Hard compelling beyond “a hero trapped and alone has to take out bad guys and save hostages”.  It’s about well-written characters and a confident tone, and Olympus Has Fallen has neither.  Director Antoine Fuqua may have his movie paced like a tight action flick, but it’s a confused picture in terms of mood and plot.  Furthermore, it misses the obvious aspect of giving us a hero worth rooting for and a villain worth rooting against.  Olympus Has Fallen sticks us in the crossfire and no one knows how to shoot.

Opening this weekend is director Antoine Fuqua’s White House actioner Olympus Has Fallen.  The film stars Gerard Butler as a disgraced Secret Service agent called back to duty when terrorists take over the White House and capture the President (Aaron Eckhart).  The film also stars Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett, Ashley Judd, Melissa Leo, Robert Forster, Dylan McDermott, Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser, and Rick Yune.  If you’ve been waiting for Butler to return to action, you’re going to be very happy watching Olympus Has Fallen.  Not only is the film a hard R for graphic violence, it features Butler kicking ass in some great action set pieces.  Watch some clips here.

A few days ago I landed an exclusive interview with Butler here in Los Angeles.   During our wide-ranging conversation, we talked about making Olympus Has Fallen, what it means to him, the great supporting cast, why he took a break from action films, the byproduct of being a celebrity, future projects, and more.  In addition, he also talked about How to Train Your Dragon 2, what it’s about, having a script this time, recording his dialogue, redoing about 70% of the first film after seeing the finished film, and a lot more.  Hit the jump to either read or listen to the interview.

If you didn’t get enough of Antoine Fuqua’s Olympus Has Fallen with the ten clips released last week, maybe this new red-band clip will satisfy you.  The actioner centers on a hostile takeover of the White House that puts the President (Aaron Eckhart) at risk. Only disgraced Secret Service agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) can save the day.  This explosive clip shows how it all goes wrong.

Hit the jump to check out the clip, click here for over 25 high-resolution images from the pic and check out Steve’s recent interview with Butler and Fuqua.  The film also stars Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett, Ashley Judd, Melissa Leo, Robert Forster, Dylan McDermott, Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser, and Rick Yune.  Olympus Has Fallen opens on March 22nd.

John Carpenter’s 1981 post-apocalyptic thriller Escape from New York is the latest property to get a face-lift.  The original starred Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken, an eye-patching wearing, bank-robbing convict tasked with venturing into the maximum security prison that has become Manhattan in order to rescue the President (Donald Pleasence) and gain his freedom.  A reboot was attempted a few years ago but New Line let the rights lapse.  Now, Joel Silver’s Silver Pictures and Studio Canal are teaming up to bring a new look (and a new face) to the franchise with plans of an origin story and eventual trilogy.  Hit the jump for more.

Opening next weekend is director Antoine Fuqua’s (Training Day) White House actioner Olympus Has Fallen.  The film stars Gerard Butler as a disgraced Secret Service agent called back to duty when terrorists take over the White House and capture the President (Aaron Eckhart).  The film also stars Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett, Ashley Judd, Melissa Leo, Robert Forster, Dylan McDermott, Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser, and Rick Yune.  If you’ve been waiting for Butler to return to action, you’re going to be very happy watching Olympus Has Fallen.  Not only is the film a hard R for graphic violence, it features Butler kicking ass in some great action set pieces.  Watch some clips here.

During the recent New York City press junket for the film, I got to speak with Butler and Fuqua.  We talked about how the project came together, how I think Butler needs to kick more ass on movie screens, the violence in the film, was it ever going to be PG-13, did they have to pull back on any of the scenes, and more.  Hit the jump to watch.

FilmDistrict has released ten new clips from director Antoine Fuqua’s (Shooter) upcoming White House actioner Olympus Has Fallen.  The film stars Gerard Butler as a disgraced Secret Service agent called back to duty when terrorists take over the White House and capture the President (Aaron Eckhart).

Hit the jump to check out the clips, and click here for over 25 high-resolution images from the pic.  The film also stars Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett, Ashley Judd, Melissa Leo, Robert Forster, Dylan McDermott, Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser, and Rick Yune.  Olympus Has Fallen opens on March 22nd.

FilmDistrict has released a batch of new high-resolution images from director Antoine Fuqua’s (Training Day) White House actioner Olympus Has Fallen.  The film stars Gerard Butler as a disgraced Secret Service agent called back to duty when terrorists take over the White House and capture the President (Aaron Eckhart).  The pic is one of two similarly-plotted action films that take place in and around the White House that will hit theaters this year, with the other being Roland Emmerich’s White House Down.  Thus far, this film looks like it has a slightly larger scope than Down, but we’ve yet to see a full trailer for the latter.

Hit the jump to take a look at the images.  The film also stars Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett, Ashley Judd, Melissa Leo, Robert Forster, Dylan McDermott, Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser, and Rick Yune.  Olympus Has Fallen opens on March 22nd.

Every year, Jimmy Kimmel Live follows the Oscars with a star-studded sketch.  Last year, audiences were treated to a trailer for Movie: The Movie, which featured dozens of movie stars parodying every film genre and cliché.  Naturally, every hit needs a sequel, and JKL has delivered with Movie: The Movie 2V.  I’ll let you be the judge between which trailer is better, but I would say the sequel surpasses the original when it comes to the obligatory Matt Damon joke.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  Movie: The Movie 2V opens Arbor Day.

We have a round-up of new posters for you this morning.  Briefly:

• Snowpiercer – The first poster for the new film from Bong Joon-ho (Mother), which takes place on a train that never stops, as it makes its way through a futuristic world that is in the midst of an ice age.  The train is divided into classes, and the lower class is ready to revolt.  The film stars Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton, Jamie Bell, Octavia Spencer, and Ewen Bremner.  No release date has been announced.
• Olympus Has Fallen – Two new posters featuring the giant faces of Gerard Butler, who plays a disgraced Secret Service agent called back to duty when terrorists take over the White House, and Aaron Eckhart.  The film also stars Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett, Robert Forster, and Cole Hauser.  The film opens on March 22nd.
• The Croods – A couple of new posters for DreamWorks Animation’s caveman comedy, featuring the voices of Emma Stone, Nicolas Cage, and Ryan Reynolds.  The film opens in 3D on March 22nd.

Hit the jump to check out the posters.

The first trailer for Antoine Fuqua’s Olympus Has Fallen is now available online.  In the first of two White House-centric action flicks this year, Fuqua strikes hard and fast to bring down the President of the United States and the symbolic building of his power.  At the same time, he establishes a great foundation for the protagonist’s heroic arc, which makes for a welcome return to action for star Gerard Butler.  There’s a bit of Expendables-style flair and over-the-top effects that are more in line with what we can expect from Roland Emmerich’s White House Down, but Fuqua’s pedigree of bringing out the truth in his characters gives me faith that this will be more than just “Die Hard meets Air Force One on steroids.”

Starring Aaron Eckhart, Ashley Judd, Morgan Freeman, Dylan McDermott and Angela Bassett, Olympus Has Fallen opens on March 22nd.  Hit the jump to check out the first trailer and poster.

There are so many big movie stars in Movie 43 that it’s borderline ridiculous, so a new featurette aims to clarify some things with a little game of “Six Degrees of Separation.”  You can check out 55 images from the movie here and see how Emma Stone, Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Naomi Watts, Terrence Howard, Halle Berry, Jason Sudeikis, Gerard Butler, Kristen Bell, Chloe Moretz, Josh Duhamel, Johnny Knoxville, Elizabeth Banks, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Richard Gere, Anna Faris, Justin Long, Liev Schreiber, Uma Thurman, Seann William Scott, Kieran Culkin, Leslie Bibb, Jimmy Bennett, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, Kate Bosworth, Patrick Warburton, Tony Shalhoub, Chris Pratt, Jack McBrayer, Aasif Mandvi and Bobby Cannavale are all connected after the jump.  Movie 43 opens January 25, 2013. 

We’ve got a couple of release date announcements to attend to this evening.  First up, Universal Pictures has set a September 6, 2013 release date for the upcoming sequel Riddick.  Directed by David Twohy, the Chronicles of Riddick follow-up finds the titular character, played by Vin Diesel, left for dead on a deserted planet filled with predators.  In addition to the release date announcement, Universal has revealed that the sci-fi film will also be released in the IMAX format when it hits theaters.  Currently no other films are slated for that September date.

Additionally, the 2013 White House actioner not directed by Roland Emmerich—Antoine Fuqua’s Olympus Has Fallen—is undergoing a slight release date shift.  FilmDistrict has moved its release up to March 22, 2013 from its previous April 5th date.  Gerard Butler stars as a disgraced Secret Service agent called back to duty when terrorists attack the White House.  The film now squares off against DreamWorks Animation’s The Croods.  Emmerich’s similarly-plotted film, White House Down, stars Channing Tatum and opens in June.

With only days remaining before its much-anticipated return to Middle Earth, the box office was a relatively quiet place. Once again, holdovers ruled and grosses were small. In fact, the only real surprise was which of the week’s seasoned veterans came out on top. That would be Skyfall: the James Bond blockbuster that last held the top spot four weeks ago.

A collection of six new clips is now available for Playing with Keeps, a romantic comedy starring Gerard Butler and Jessica Biel. Directed by Gabriele Muccino (The Pursuit of Happyness), Playing for Keeps follows a washed-up soccer star (Butler) who drifts back to his hometown to put his life back together. Wrangled into coaching his son’s soccer team, he tries to balance the relationship with his ex-wife (Biel) against the relentless soccer moms who pursue him at every turn.

Playing for Keeps, also starring Dennis Quaid, Uma Thurman, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Judy Greer, opens December 7th. Hit the jump to watch the clips.